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At the end of July, as contending teams across the league hustled and haggled to upgrade their rosters for the stretch run, the Minnesota Twins mostly stood pat, amid reports of continuing ownership-imposed spending limitations.
Their lone move: adding a mediocre veteran reliever named Trevor Richards from Toronto, in exchange for a nondescript minor-leaguer. That was it--the only lever pulled by a team in playoff position, with championship aspirations. At the time, it looked like just about the lowest-wattage move imaginable, and the team's usage of their newly-acquired reliever since then only cements it as such.
In being charitable to the Twins front office, which has generally done a great job building this club into an elite one, I tried to convince myself there was more than meets the eye with Richards. The 31-year-old has performed barely above the replacement level, accumulating an almost impressively low 0.8 fWAR in nearly 300 innings over the past four-and-a-half years. Among 50 relievers with 200 or more innings pitched over that span, his 4.91 ERA ranked dead last. But maybe the front office saw something in him that compelled them to target the right-hander. A specific usage or pitch mix tweak that might unlock a new level?
Now that he's been on the roster for three weeks, nothing of that nature has become apparent. Richards has pitched fine, with seven scoreless outings in eight appearances. But it's more the team's usage of the reliever that serves as an indictment of this trade. In their sole move at the deadline, the Twins acquired a pitcher whom they don't seem to trust or have any interest in using, outside of mop-up duty.
The meltdown at Wrigley Field, when Richards came in to relieve an injured Joe Ryan and gave up three runs in an egregiously erratic showing, is the big blemish on his record. I'm not going to hold it against him too much, since entering a game cold in the third inning without warning is a cruel circumstance for any reliever.
But I have to ask: Why was he the guy they chose there, just one week into his Twins tenure? Did they feel that the experienced vet would be better equipped to handle the assignment versus someone else? If so, it clearly didn't work out.
It was a meaningful situation, with the Twins still leading 2-1 when Richards entered the game. Five walks and two wild pitches later, they were down 4-2, in what eventually became a lopsided loss. Richards hasn't pitched in a spot that qualifies as high-leverage, aside from that one. Since he was acquired on Jul. 30, his Average Leverage Index is sixth among Twins relievers, behind even Ronny Henriquez.
Sunday's game against Texas really hammered home the shameful reality that Minnesota's only pickup at the trade deadline -- as a bona fide championship contender -- was a player that they don't even trust. With a 4-0 lead in the seventh inning, Rocco Baldelli opted to turn to Jorge Alcalá, who'd appeared twice in the previous three days, rather than Richards, who hadn't pitched in four days. We all saw how that went. Baldelli was more comfortable going to Richards as his first reliever the following day, with the Twins already down three runs.
The lack of confidence is understandable, when you look past the fact that Minnesota actively sought him out for some reason. His decent overall results so far with the Twins are made possible by a .143 BABIP, and his tendency to completely lose control of where he's throwing the ball makes him impossible to count on when virtually anything is at stake. His last three appearances have all come with the team at a deficit.
So, what is Richards's purpose here, exactly? Not to pitch meaningful innings, we know that. Is it to lessen the burden on Minnesota's top relievers, to prevent fatigue or attrition in September and October? That didn't happen on Sunday. Dispatch left-handed hitters with his reverse splits? He's faced as many righties as lefties, and besides, the Twins already already have two southpaws in Caleb Thielbar and Steven Okert who've proved useful for little except matchup-based usage--though the situations in which Baldelli trusts Thielbar also seem to be few in number.
Three weeks later, it really isn't clear what motivated the Twins to bring in Richards at the deadline, other than to have him serve as one of the lowest-leverage relievers in a bullpen that could definitely use help at the top. Is Richards a better option for this role than a readily-available Quad-A type, like Scott Blewett? Perhaps, but it's far from a given. The fact that it's even in question lays bare how truly sad Minnesota's deadline showing was. And unfortunately, the most serious comeuppance may still lie ahead.
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